Billionaire founders behind Dis-Chem sell millions of rands worth of shares

On Tuesday, 30 June 2026, Ivan and Lynette Saltzman sold more than R9.08 million worth of Dis-Chem shares on the open market.

This was done as part of the Dis-Chem founders’ Forfeitable Share Options (FSPs) plans.

Ivan and Lynette built Dis-Chem into the JSE-listed retail giant it is today, starting from one store in Johannesburg in 1978.

Today, Dis-Chem has a market cap of around R28 billion on the JSE, and the Saltzman family is worth $1.3 billion (R21.09 billion), recently having been ranked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for the first time.

This saw the Saltzmans gain dollar billionaire status, joining South African businessmen like Johann Rupert, Nicky Oppenheimer, Koos Bekker, Patrice Motsepe, Michiel Le Roux, and Christo Wiese.

Confirmation of the Saltzmans’ billionaire status came after Ivan recently announced that he is stepping away from Dis-Chem completely, giving up his role as chairman and executive director at the end of June.

This marked the end of a 48-year era for the pharmacy retail giant, with Ivan having been on the company’s board since Dis-Chem was founded.

He had stepped down as CEO in June 2023, handing over the reins to Rui Morais. Ivan had been progressively giving up his various positions at Dis-Chem since then.

“It is immensely gratifying for Lynette and me to have grown the business from a single store to what it is today,” Ivan said when he announced his retirement.

Aside from its value on the JSE, Dis-Chem also boasts more than 300 stores in its network and a staff complement of over 20,000 employees.

“I am confident in and supportive of the future leadership of the group who share the same commitment to the brand fundamentals that Lynette and I do,” Ivan said.

Prior to Dis-Chem’s JSE listing in 2016, the Saltzmans had retained private control of the company since its founding.

However, this changed after the company opened its 100th store in 2016, which motivated the Saltzmans to take Dis-Chem public.

This decision not only allowed the founders to start thinking more seriously and formally about succession but also enabled them to turn some of their shareholding into liquid cash.

Dis-Chem’s listing proved a successful move, with the company more than doubling its revenue and store count in the decade that followed.

Selling shares

On Friday, 3 July, Dis-Chem informed shareholders that Ivan and Lynette, along with other company directors, had sold shares on 30 June.

Ivan sold 113,587 shares at around R32.85 each, with the transaction totalling R3.73 million. Lynette sold 93,092 shares for a total of R3.06 million.

The company said this was done through an on-market disposal of the Saltzmans’ FSPs that were previously awarded under an FSP plan.

On Monday, 6 July, Dis-Chem issued another notice to shareholders informing them of additional transactions that had taken place on 30 June. The company said Ivan made two more transactions, both on-market disposals of FSPs.

In two separate transactions, Ivan sold 28,072 and 42,331 Dis-Chem shares, totalling R914,815.95 and R1.38 million, respectively.

Therefore, on 30 June, Ivan had sold over R6 million worth of Dis-Chem shares, while Lynette sold around R3 million worth of shares. All of their transactions together totalled R9.08 million.

Notably, while Ivan has stepped down from his board positions, the Saltzman family retains a significant shareholding in the company.

This includes Ivan, Lynette, and their three sons, two of whom received 217 million shares, valued at around R3.4 billion, in 2025.

Their third son, Saul Saltzman, is currently a non-executive director at Dis-Chem, having been at the company for nearly two decades.

Ivan and Lynette’s share sales on 30 June are shown in the table below.